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To: DJBEINO who wrote (31433)	3/30/1998 12:14:00 PM
From: Chas	Respond to of 53903

please post where you see the ending of production on Hitachi etc. chas

To: DJBEINO who wrote (31433)	3/30/1998 12:43:00 PM
From: ComSolut	Respond to of 53903

More information Japan's DRAM Makers Move To Stop Red Ink (03/30/98; 12:38 p.m. EST) By Andrew MacLellan and Sandy Chen, Electronic Buyers' News In an ongoing battle to stanch the flow of red ink from their DRAM operations, Japan's chip makers are shifting their wafer mix toward higher-margin products and continuing to outsource chip manufacturing to cut labor costs. In the latest developments, Hitachi announced that its U.S. subsidiary will move much of its production capacity to logic chips, while Toshiba [profile] has finalized a deal to transfer its advanced wafer-process technology to Taiwan's Worldwide Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (WSMC). Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Electric president Takashi Kitaoka has announced that he will resign in June, ending a tenure marked by bullish DRAM<Picture> production increases. Kitaoka's decision coincided with word that Mitsubishi expects a consolidated net loss of 70 billion yen for its fiscal year, which ended in March, and will cut capital expenditures next year by about 45 percent, to 50 billion yen. Pending shareholder approval, Kitaoka will be replaced by Ichiro Taniguchi, executive managing director of Mitsubishi's Electronic Systems Division. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "The bleeding has been so severe for so long that it's time for these companies to revisit their position in the DRAM business." -- Brian Matas IC Insights ------------------------------------------------------------------------ With DRAM prices falling another 10 percent so far this year, economic necessity may force Japan's DRAM makers to cut back production levels more aggressively, said Brian Matas, an analyst at IC Insights, in Scottsdale, Ariz. While reductions will ultimately help the market strike a better supply/demand balance, Matas said the DRAM industry can at best expect single-digit growth this year. "The bleeding has been so severe for so long that it's time for these companies to revisit their position in the DRAM business," Matas said. "I don't think any of these guys are going to get out of the market in the short term, but they've got to take some kind of action." Hitachi Semiconductor (America) said it was responding to pressure from the depressed memory market when it announced last week that its Irving, Texas, fab will produce fewer DRAM chips as a percentage of total output. Following more than two years of prolonged price erosion, Hitachi said the facility will make more microprocessor, microcontroller, and application-specific chips. By year's end, logic integrated circuits will make up 40 percent of the fab's product mix, up from just 18 percent today. The Irving plant currently makes 4-Mbit DRAM, an older-density chip that many memory companies are beginning to phase out. "Changes in our markets have been dramatic and have necessitated a change in our manufacturing focus in the Texas plant to improve the outlook for our operations," said Kosei Nomiya, CEO of Hitachi Semiconductor (America). "These conditions have dictated that we shift our focus to higher-margin semiconductor-logic products." ComSolut